A flock of shorebirds flies in formation over the Sura Tidal Flat. (Image provided by Oh Dong-pil, head of the Saemangeum Citizen Ecological Survey Team)
JEONJU, South Korea, April 23 (Korea Bizwire) — A coalition of environmental organizations and international ecologists has formally petitioned the Ramsar Convention Secretariat to intervene in South Korea’s Saemangeum International Airport project, warning that it poses an existential threat to two ecologically vital tidal flats along a key migratory bird route.
On April 23, 2025, the Saemangeum Airport Cancellation Joint Action group—joined by U.S.-based ecologists including Professor Youngrae Choi of Florida International University, Professor Yekang Ko of the University of Oregon, and researcher Taejin Park of the Bay Area Environmental Research Institute—submitted a joint letter to the Asia–Oceania officer of the Ramsar Secretariat.
A juvenile little tern, smaller than a fist, waits for its mother on the muddy ground near the Sura Tidal Flat. (Image provided by Hwang Yun, director of the documentary film Sura, which focuses on the Sura Tidal Flat)
The letter warns that the proposed airport, located just 6 kilometers from the Ramsar-listed Seocheon Tidal Flat, could severely impact habitats for endangered species such as the spoon-billed sandpiper and the great knot.
The group argues that the project qualifies as a case under Article 3.2 of the Ramsar Convention, which obligates signatory countries to report changes or potential threats to the ecological character of designated wetlands. If validated, this could prompt the inclusion of Seocheon on the Montreux Record—a list of Ramsar sites under ecological threat—raising the issue to international prominence.
A photo taken by an environmental group on October 7, 2021, captures the risk of bird strikes at the planned site of the Saemangeum International Airport in the Sura Tidal Flat. (Image provided by the Saemangeum Airport Cancellation Joint Action)
While the proposed airport site, the Sura Tidal Flat, is not currently a Ramsar site, the petitioners assert that it meets the criteria for international designation. They warn that construction would destroy the ecological corridor linking Sura and Seocheon, both of which are vital feeding and nesting grounds for migratory birds.
The coalition also cited South Korea’s own 2021 Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment, which found that the risk of bird strikes in the area is up to 610 times higher than at other regional airports such as Muan International.
They accused the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of downplaying the potential ecological damage despite acknowledging the presence of endangered species in the zone.
The petition builds on a February 2025 letter published in the journal Science, where scholars outlined the airport’s risks to biodiversity and local cultural practices tied to the tidal flats.
The group now aims to place the issue on the official agenda of the 15th Ramsar Convention of the Parties (COP15), to be held in Zimbabwe this July.
A scene from the documentary film Sura. (Image provided by director Hwang Yun)
In a parallel development, the Seoul Administrative Court is set to deliver a ruling on May 15, 2025, in a lawsuit filed by 1,308 South Korean citizens seeking to annul the airport project’s master plan, originally approved by the Ministry in 2022. Environmental activists continue to stage solo protests outside the courthouse in Seoul, demanding the plan’s cancellation.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
